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Graff History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Suggested Reading Citations

Graff History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Netherlands
Germany

The distinguished surname Graff was first found in Switzerland.

Early Origins of the Graff family

The surname Graff was first found in Switzerland, where the family contributed to the development of the region. They became prominent in local affairs and branched into many houses which played important roles in savage tribal and national conflicts, each group seeking power and status in an ever changing territorial profile.

Early History of the Graff family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Graff research. Another 122 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1485, 1527, 1599, 1611, 1664, 1671, 1678, 1719, 1769, 1807, 1815, 1826, 1841 and 1869 are included under the topic Early Graff History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Graff Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Graf, Grafe,Graef, Graff, Graffen, Graffin, Grafen, Grafin, Grav, Graaf and many more.

Early Notables of the Graff family

Notables of the time with the surname Graff were Urs Graf (1485-1527), Swiss engraver and goldsmith, influenced by Albrecht Duerer; Cornelis de Graeff (1599-1664), Mayor of Amsterdam; Free Imperial Knight Andries de Graeff (1611-1678), Mayor of Amsterdam; Cornelis de Graeff (1671-1719), Dutch Canon of St. Pieter at...
Another 46 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Graff Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Graff Ranking

In the United States, the name Graff is the 3,328^th most popular surname with an estimated 9,948 people with that name. 1 However, in France, the name Graff is ranked the 1,869^th most popular surname with an estimated 3,286 people with that name. 2

Graff migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Graff Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Sebastian Graff, who settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1719
Christoff Graff, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1728 3
George Graff, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1728 3
Hans Jerg Graff, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1728 3
Jahn Michael Graff, who landed in New York, NY in 1731-1751 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Graff Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Anna Barbara Graff, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1803 3
Elizabeth Graff, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1803 3
Augustus Graff, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1845-1846 3
Theodore Graff, aged 22, who landed in New York, NY in 1847 3
John M W Graff, who landed in St Clair County, Illinois in 1857 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Graff migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Graff Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Conrad Graff, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1749-1752
Ester Graff, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1757
Catharina Graff, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1757

Graff migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Graff Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Furniss Graff, (Grass, Ernest), English shoe maker who was convicted in London, England for life, transported aboard the "Coromandel" on 27th October 1819, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land), he died in 1851 4
William Graff, aged 34, a clerk, who arrived in South Australia in 1848 aboard the ship "Alfred" 5

Contemporary Notables of the name Graff (post 1700) +

Todd Graff (b. 1959), American actor, known for The Abyss (1989), Camp (2003) and Strange Days (1995)
Randy Graff (b. 1955), American actress, known for Rent (2005)
Ilene Graff (b. 1949), American actress and singer from Brooklyn, New York, known for Remington Steele (1982), Mr. Belvedere (1985) and Loving Annabelle (2006)
John Isaac De Graff (1783-1848), American Democratic Party politician, U.S. Representative from New York, 1827-29, 1837-39; Mayor of Schenectady, New York, 1832-34, 1836, 1842, 1845 6
Don A. De Graff, American politician, Village President of South Holland, Illinois, 2005-09 6
Kasimir Romuald Graff (1878-1950), German astronomer, eponym of the Graff lunar crater and the Graff crater on Mars
Gerald Graff, American professor, writer, and literary critic at the University of Illinois at Chicago
Anton Graff (1736-1813), eminent Swiss portrait artist

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 12th March 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/coromandel
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) ALFRED 1848. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1848Alfred.htm
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 11) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html